“A…two-legged cross between a crocodile and a mountain lion. Add a huge skull and the predatory behavior of a shark,” was how modern man described the Allosaurus. However, the stark reality of the tremendous power these animals possessed made the shark seem like a goldfish and a mountain lion a pussycat. These two dinosaurs stood over forty feet tall and weighed three and a half tons. They were captured as juveniles in the Nile region of Africa where they roamed freely in large herds. No one had ever dared attempt to enter the land…until the Commissioner showed he could control them with a distortion device and a focused laser beam—the same design used to attempt to disrupt the shoestring Kyle placed in the capsule.
In their natural habitat, the Allosaurs showed little aggression toward humans or other animals unless the other animals were wounded, weak, or threatening. Like their close cousins, the T-Rex, Allosaurs were extremely efficient scavengers but with an intimidating presence. However, once removed from their environment, they quickly became aggressive. Not just toward people, but toward everything that moved. Only the constantly scanning beam of the disruptors kept the animals under control in the enormous warehouses of the research district. Now that control was gone.
The Commissioner’s original plan was to have, not only a pterosaur force of drifters, but an even greater army of Allosaur commandos. With that, he felt he could literally rule the world. He knew the only thing that could stop him, was the return of the boy. Yet that was inevitable. He had a plan to carry out his conquest of the world, but it meant capturing the boy and getting him into a special device of his own invention. That device was operational and it was located in the district not far from where the explosions were occurring. It concerned him greatly although he tried hard not to show it.
The Commissioner turned the stick sharply to the right and the Allosaurs shot past them and continued down the street before realizing they had lost the harmonic pulse they had been chasing. In the mirror, he noticed what had startled the women: half of his face was shimmering and transparent. He reached up and his hand went right through—as if it wasn’t there.
***
Kyle and the professor ran down the front stairs and out onto the street to see what was happening. As Kyle stepped out, something passed him, something enormous and powerful. The sidewalk under his feet shook so violently, he had to grab the side of the building for support. The professor fell on the sidewalk but managed to get his hands out on front of him.
“Allosaurs!” the professor yelled above the explosions and rocket fire coming from the nearby building.
Kyle was astonished. “You mean I was almost squished like a mosquito by an Allosaurus?”
“Yes. That would quite literally have been the end of all of us, I presume.”
“The heck with the universe. I’m just trying to stay alive for…personal reasons. I’m still young ya know.”
“Indeed. So you are. Get back in the building so the rest of us can stay that way.”
Kyle was about to do just that, when something else shot past him knocking him to the ground. He fell over the professor and scrapped his elbow. A ripple of electricity seemed to snap like a bolt of lightning through the ground and they watched with their mouths open as it spread out from them—from Kyle’s elbow.
“Do you believe me now when I say the entire universe depends on your staying alive?” asked the professor.
Kyle gulped. “I…I…guess so.” He watched as the ripple of electrical current snapped across the horizon and seemed to electrify the clouds above. It was still dark, but for one quick moment, it was sunlight.
“Professor, that was Priti that ran by me. We have to get her back!” There was fear in Kyle’s eyes.
“Indeed we do.”
***
As the women watched the Commissioner, a ripple of electrical current seemed to pass through the vehicle. As it reached the Commissioner, he seemed to phase out of existence for just a brief moment. His eyes widened and he turned back around and started the vehicle, his face restored.
Teresa and Sonja looked at each other puzzled. Teresa whispered, “What was that?”
“That was your brother,” said the Commissioner in an irritated tone. “He must have just had an accident or we’d all be gone. If you don’t help me find him, you’ll be gone, too.”
“Why should I care,” said Teresa.
“You always were a little snotty kid. You should have listened to me instead of your…that…that…professor, as he calls himself. He’s wrong, you know. Sending him back won’t work.”
Sonja stared at Teresa nervously.
“Yes, I know all about your plans. I know you have another capsule in the next building. Surprised? Nothing gets by me. You should know that by now. I knew the second your brother arrived. I felt it.”
“What do you plan to do with him?” asked Sonja.
“Ha, ha. Oh, I have been planning this for a long, long time. I plan to put your little brother in flux for all eternity. Once I get him and that little raptor in my machine, I will rule the entire world! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
His laughter cut short as something darted in front of the vehicle. The Commissioner slammed on the brakes and jumped out as the girls watched.
“It is Priti!” screamed Sonja.
The Commissioner gave chase as best he could with a bum leg. In his haste, he left the door to the vehicle open and the girls hopped out and ran past him in the direction of Priti.
As they ran, the ground began to shake.
“Earthquake!” yelled Teresa as they fell to the ground. But when they looked up, two giant shadows were moving in their direction.
”Run!”
***
“Come on, Professor. We have to catch her.”
“You go on ahead. I can’t run like I used to. Just get her back here as fast as you can. I’ll get everything ready to go. We must act fast. I don’t know how much time we have.”
Kyle took off running as fast as his legs would carry him. He tried to ignore the sounds behind him and was very concerned that the professor would be injured. He liked the old man and still couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew him—and knew him well. But nothing would jog his memory.
Up ahead he saw a vehicle of some kind with the door opened. On the ground, there was an old man next to it with a cane. Concerned that the man was injured, Kyle went over and reached down to help him up.
“Hello, Kyle. Long time no see.” The man was smiling at him.
“Dad?”
Chapter Thirty-Four
The professor worked frantically at the keyboard of the computer station typing in the complex harmonics that would send Priti and Kyle back to the past. Everything had to be precisely the same as it had been in the past, or the universe would collapse.
The notes flowed off the end of his fingertips as if he was playing the piano. In fact, he had played the piano as well as a number of keyboard instruments—“to improve his mind,” he often said. By forcing his brain to coordinate the notes with his hands, it improved his ability to think and reason. He became faster at calculating the complex harmonics of the stars the more he played. Soon, even the complex mathematical equations that raced through his brain were as easy as playing “Chopsticks.”
He no longer hated math. Now, it was beautiful—like a fine silk fabric, it weaved its mysterious effects through his thoughts until he felt a part of the stars themselves. His mind reached out to the distant solar systems and the galaxies and it all made sense. The music of the heavens gave him all the answers he needed—if only he could get Kyle back in time. Otherwise, he might lose the delicate balance of the magnificent time capsule that had been created by a brilliant man so long ago.
The explosions in the building next door continued and this forced him to think harder than he ever had before. The chaos was driving the harmony from his mind. He typed the notes faster and faster until his fingers blurred across the keys like a thousand tiny spiders dancing all at the same ti
me. They danced to the music of his fingers. They danced to the music of the stars.
***
Kyle helped his father to his feet. “I…I…Teresa said…”
“I’m sure she did. But that’s okay. She doesn’t really know what is going on. I’m afraid I have been less than honest with your sister and her friend. No matter what they’ve been telling you, they’re wrong. I have the answer to the paradox. I can send you back and save the universe.”
“But why would she have said you were dead?”
“I think your sister is jealous. You were jealous of me.”
“Me? Why would I be jealous of you? For cryin’ out loud, Dad. I’m just a kid! Just a dumb little kid like you always said.”
“I guess you really don’t know, do you?”
“Know what?”
“It’s not that important. I can explain all that to you back in the lab. But we need to get your dinosaur back there, too. Do you think you can help me catch it?”
Kyle scratched his head and then rubbed his elbow. His father, the Commissioner, watched with intense curiosity. The phase shift in the harmonic field had stopped and his face was whole again. The ripple of electromagnetism that came from Kyle’s injury must have had a positive effect instead of a negative one.
He looked at his father closely and tried to see if he could tell what he was really thinking.
Should I believe him? Is that why the girls were so secretive?
Kyle wondered what it was he was supposed to know.
He said I was jealous. How could I be jealous? I just got here?
It was all very puzzling. Very, very puzzling. He decided the best thing to do was take his father’s suggestion and help him find Priti. No matter what, he decided that was the most important thing to do right now.
“So,” said his father. “Where do you think the little raptor went? Any ideas?”
“He was in quite a hurry. Some large dinosaurs—I think they were Allosaurs—came by and Priti chased after them. I thought that was odd. Why would Priti chase after the Allosaurs?”
“Well, you’re right about one thing. They are Allosaurs. I lost control of them when you returned from the past.”
“You control them?”
“I’ll explain it later. When we get back to my lab.”
Then a thought struck Kyle like a knife.
“Why…why did you try and stop me?”
His father ignored the question and they climbed into the vehicle and started the engine. The pulse seemed stronger that before and the power was almost back to normal. It seemed the closeness of Kyle to the source, the closer to normal things were. Kyle’s presence neutralized the paradox reaction. He didn’t notice—but his father did.
***
Teresa and Sonja looked up as the two Allosaurs stopped just a few feet from them. The animals were looking down at the two women and trying to sniff the air. One of them bent over and brought its colossal head close and sniffed. Teresa lay perfectly still. The animal nudged her. Her eyes were wide with fear, but she remembered what the professor had told them. “When confronted by a large animal, show no fear. Don’t feel it. Don’t let them sense you are afraid—or you’re a goner.”
Sonja, too, knew this. She also remembered something else her husband had said: “When up against an animal and there is no way out, take the offensive. Attack before it attacks you.”
Sonja jumped to her feet and, even though she was frightened half out of her wits, she slapped the Allosaurus on the nose. The large beast recoiled and let out a deafening roar. Teresa jumped to her feet.
“Are you nuts?” she screamed. They turned and ran across the street. The Allosaurs hesitated for a moment and then their natural instinct to chase running prey kicked in and they homed in again on the fleeing women.
Teresa and Sonja slipped into an alleyway hoping the monsters didn’t notice.
The Allosaurs ran right by. Something else caught their attention and like flies to the manure pile, they were drawn to the sound of the distortion field being discharged from the Commissioner’s vehicle and took off in pursuit.
Teresa and Sonja peeked out into the alley. The animals thumped off down the street and the women breathed a sigh of relief. As they did, something in the alleyway behind them screeched sending a new shock of fear through their already frightened bodies.
Kyle grabbed the stick from his father and yanked it to one side. Something was coming straight at them. The car careened down a small alleyway barely with enough room to squeeze through.
Small lizard-like animals squealed and screamed as they scrambled out of the way where they had been picking through the garbage. Compysaurs, thought Kyle.
The vehicle accelerated to the end of the alley and shot out into a small side street. The Allosaurs couldn’t get through the alley and banged their heads against the brick walls of the buildings in frustration. The sounds the vehicle made were driving the animals insane. For years, they had been slaves to the sounds. Now that they were free, they wanted to crush the source of the sound and stop it—forever.
“That was close,” said Kyle with relief.
“Don’t ever touch the stick again. If you do, you’ll live to regret it,” seethed the Commissioner.
“But…if I didn’t, we would have been killed. Both of us.”
There was something about his father that didn’t seem right. He should have been much older than he was. Has he learned the secret of eternal youth? Kyle wondered too about his father’s odd behavior. One minute he seemed normal and then, just now, he seemed like some evil entity that had inhabited his father’s body. Right now, his father appeared to be the essence of evil. And then he softened.
“I’m sorry. I guess I was just startled. I didn’t mean what I said. Just forget it.”
Kyle couldn’t forget it. He remembered the pressing question on his mind just before the Allosaurs suddenly appeared.
“Why were you willing to sacrifice me?”
“It’s not that easy. I thought you were going to put an end to time itself if you brought Priti back with you.”
“But I did and it didn’t cause a paradox. You’re still here…even though time moved faster in the future than in the past. I still don’t understand that.”
“It’s quite simple really. Time isn’t what it seems.”
“That’s what the professor said.”
“Bah! The professor isn’t what he seems. And you should know that.”
“I’m supposed to know him, aren’t I?”
“I’m surprised he hasn’t told you who he is.”
“So, I do know him?”
“You could say that.”
His father was being evasive. The mystery of the professor was something Kyle felt he needed to solve. He didn’t know exactly why, but he felt if he knew who the professor was, he’d understand time better. For some reason he couldn’t explain, he trusted the professor more than his own father. Much more.
It was clear that his father wasn’t going to tell him. He had the same old aloof attitude he always had. That much hadn’t changed.
“If the paradox didn’t happen when I came back, then you were wrong, weren’t you?”
The Commissioner wasn’t listening. Something shot across the road in front of them. It was a bambiraptor.
“Is that it? Is that your raptor?”
They stopped and the Commissioner popped the door up, jumped out, and started to limp after Priti, but as he did, the Allosaurs broke through the building directly across the road. Priti shot down another small alleyway and the Commissioner froze in his tracks and looked up at the Allosaurs with anger. He raised his fists at them.
“You can’t attack me! I made you! I control you! Get! Get out of here!” He screamed at them, but the Allosaurs just stood there confused. The engine had stopped. There was no longer any music hurting their ears and they turned and walked back toward the buildings where they had come from originally. A new sound started playing. A
sound that hadn’t been heard in over fifty years. The sound of a hundred violins—in perfect harmony.
Kyle recognized it immediately. So did his father who stopped yelling at the creatures.
“Kyle!” It was Teresa. She reached in and grabbed Kyle by the arm and yanked him out of the car. “We have to run. Quick!”
Kyle chased after Teresa and Sonja. His father was yelling something just before he climbed back in the vehicle. He turned the ignition, but nothing happened. Angrily, he banged his fist on the dash until he caught sight of his face. It was phasing in and out again and it frightened him to the core of his being.
***
They could see Priti as she ran ahead of them stopping periodically to see where they were. Priti was heading in the direction of the lab—a few buildings away from where the Allosaurs had escaped. The sound was coming from the professor’s lab.
The Allosaurs stood outside the laboratory building and made cooing sounds. Kyle stopped a couple of doors away and Teresa and Sonja stopped with him. The girls were trying to catch their breath, but Kyle was more than ready to continue. It was the Allosaurs that stopped him.
“How are we going to get by them?”
Before the girls could answer, Priti ran past the behemoths and into the building. The door was unlocked and partially open.
Teresa said, “Well, there’s your answer. I have no idea why the Allosaurs are just standing there. They seem to be in a trance of some kind.”
“It’s almost as if they’re…purring at the building,” remarked Kyle in disbelief. “It reminds me of our cat, Ludacris, when she was in heat…before we had her fixed.”
“Do you think it is safe to walk by them?” asked Sonja.
“Let’s find out,” said Kyle as he headed toward the building. Cautiously, he walked up to the Allosaurs. They seemed to ignore his presence. The door was wide open and he could hear the sound of the violins quite clearly. The sound had a pleasant effect on him as well. It seemed to sooth the anxiety he felt. The nervousness was gone.
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